The 12th-ranked Hope College women's swimming and diving team delivered a commanding performance to start its quest for a fifth consecutive MIAA Championship.

The Flying Dutch clocked one of NCAA Division III's 800-yard freestyle relays of the season on Wednesday at Calvin University.

Freshman Emme D'Errico (Farmington Hills, Michigan / Farmington HS), senior Sara Kraus (Rockford, Michigan / Rockford), junior Bella Turner (Chelsea, Michigan / Chelsea) and junior Laurel Wasiniak (Northville, Michigan / Northville) teamed for an MIAA- and school-record time of 7 minutes, 28.02 seconds. 

Division III's seventh-fastest 800 free relay of the season surpassed the Hope record of 7:28.81 set by Greta Gidley, Kraus, Ashlea Swingewood and Wasiniak in 2023 and Calvin's 2024 MIAA record of 7:27.59.

Hope finished 22.72 seconds ahead of runner-up Calvin at Venema Aquatic Center.

Head coach Jake Taber said D'Errico and Kraus set the stage for a super-charged start to the meet.

D'Errico opened with a season-best 200 free of 1:52.68. It was four-plus seconds faster than her previous best. Kraus followed with a split of 1:51.63.

"An unbelievable leadoff by Emme," Taber said. "When you watched her go out, you could see the excitement not only by the rest of the relay but the Hope side of the pool. Her reaction when she finished was amazing.

"You never know what your competition is going to show. Calvin can put together a great A relay, too. That's why we put Sara out there. She was locked in and ready to go regardless of who was swimming next to her. That's a senior captain who's done it all the past four years."

Combined with a second-scoring relay, the Flying Dutch accumulated 62 points during Day 1 of the four-day meet 

Hope built a 10-point lead over second-place Calvin. Albion College (44) and Kalamazoo College (44) are tied for third place and followed by Alma College (44) and The University of Olivet (26).

The MIAA Championships resume on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m. with preliminaries. Finals start at 5 p.m. The meet runs through Saturday, Feb. 22, with two sessions daily.

The Flying Dutch topped Calvin in the 800 freestyle B relay by 22.13 seconds. Freshman Megan Wedeking (Lexington, Kentucky / Lexington), sophomore Paige Potter (Lake Orion, Michigan / Lake Orion), senior Norah Martin (Middleton, Wisconsin / Middleton) and Swingewood (Carmel, Indiana / Carmel) touched the wall with a winning time of 7:46.72.

In the 100 breaststroke time trial, Gidley clocked the MIAA's fastest time with a swim of 1:02.48. 

Three Hope divers advanced to Thursday's finals in 1-meter diving.

Sophomore Laura Zupancic (Fort Collins, Colorado / Liberty Common) posted the top qualifying score with 409.95 points. 

Senior Molly Leonard (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Catholic Central) is sixth with 359.45 points. Senior Hope Weeda (Grandville, Michigan / Calvin Christian) is seventh with 355.65 points.